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The charms of Illsey Place

ARCH Home & Garden Tour visits historic neighborhood

By Eddie Torres

Fort Wayne Reader

2018-06-15

ARCH’s summer Home & Garden tour visits the historic Illsey Place area on Saturday, June 23, featuring 10 historic homes and two neighborhood businesses in the Illsley Place-West Rudisill Historic District, Listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Illsley Place was an earlier farmstead that had been the residence of Frank Illsley Brown and Anna Bond Brown who lived in the property’s stately Italianate home, surrounded by extensive gardens. The residence was referred to as “Illsley” and, with the city’s growth patterns, was a sizeable, wooded and unplatted property sandwiched between the Oakdale addition to the north and the Rudisill Boulevard development on the south. The 1918 Sanborn Map presents an interesting illustration of this block-long 10-acre property stretching from Broadway Avenue to Beaver Avenue and containing the west-facing Italianate and several outbuildings.

The property was platted and sold to local land developer W.E. Doud in 1923. The marketing at the time emphasized the peaceful surroundings and natural amenities. “Nature, assisted by the hand of man, has done much for Illsley Place,” the advertisements proclaimed. “Its high elevation assures perfect drainage, its location provides peaceful quietude. Graceful maples, sturdy oaks and beautiful shrubbery adorn nearly every home site.”

Illsley Place is an excellent example of residential developments of the time, and also reflects trends in this part of Fort Wayne, with the drive fitting into the existing city grid. The property was divided in half, with a tree-lined drive from Broadway to Beaver Avenue. The drive had a small roundabout at its center, brick entry markers at each end and sidewalks along both sides.

After nearly a century, the area has maintained its charm and its desirability as a residence.



The ARCH Home & Garden Tour
Saturday, June 23, 10 am – 4 pm.
Tickets: $12 advance; $14 day of the tour
Purchase tickets online at archfw.org or at the ARCH box office 818 Lafayette Street

The ticket booth will be at The Summit, 1025 W. Rudisill Blvd., where the tour begins.

CookSpring Kitchens will be offering food samples, and food and beverages will be for sale on the tour route.

Archfw.org